US FDA halts sale of 4 Reynolds Cigarette brands

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The US Food and Drug Administration has ordered Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) to stop selling four of their products for failing to pass safety standards.

The FDA ordered the RAI to stop the sale and distribution of Camel Crush Bold, Vantage Tech 13, Pall Mall Deep Set Recessed Filter and Pall Mall Deep Set Recessed Filter Menthol. According to the New York Times, product retailers were also told to stop selling the products and to dispose of the cigarettes within 30 days.

"These decisions were based on a rigorous, science-based review designed to protect the public from the harms caused by tobacco use," Mitch Zeller, director of FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said in the statement released by the FDA. The agency will continue to review product submissions and exercise its legal authority and consumer protection duty to remove products from the market when they fail to meet the public health bar set forth under law.

According to the report by Reuters, FDA's rulings against the four cigarette brands were because they were different than their predecessor brands which made the agency question the safety of the products. The Washington Post reports that some of the cigarettes contained new ingredients or higher menthol levels, or may have contained higher amounts of potentially unsafe ingredients. In the application for cigarettes, Reynolds failed to submit evidence that the alterations in their products are safe.

In a statement Tuesday, the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., a unit of the Reynolds Company, said that they were not in agreement with the findings of the government agency.

"We supplied the agency with extensive information on each of the products, and responded to all of the agency's questions," said Jeffery Gentry, R.J. Reynolds executive VP for operations, in a statement. "Our product stewardship process is rigorous and ensures that we are producing the highest quality products that meet regulatory requirements."

When asked about what the company will be doing next, Gentry stated that they will be looking their "options."

The Cowen and Company, a financial services firm, published a research on their website and noting that the four products only makes less than 1 percent of RAI's total cigarette market share. This suggests that FDA's banning decision will not have much impact on the company, USA Today reports.